Aerospace engineers need to look at liquid cooling, Curtiss-Wright technical fellow advises
PHOENIX, 20 Jan. 2015. High-density, high-performance processors can create thermal management challenges. Extended temperature operating environments and long life exacerbate system design issues. VITA is helping to solve a lot of these problems, admits Ivan Straznicky, technical fellow, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions in Ottawa, Canada.
Traditional cooling approaches (conduction cooling and air cooling) are running out of headroom. There are a number of approaches proposed within VITA, but we really need to start looking at liquid cooling, Straznicky affirms.
CPU throttling is not a good solution for myriad applications, especially compute- and data-intensive missions requiring real-time decision making. It does, however, aid in power consumption and heat dissipation.
Engineers are looking for solutions beyond air cooling, Straznicky observes. “You basically need a hurricane to cool some high-power systems today.”
Curtiss-Wright product designers are investigating high-power, conduction-cooled technologies.
The VITA 64 Working Group is looking at specific mechanical details on what can be done at the card edge to come up with unique thermal management solutions. Enough work has been done, we have a feasible approach to liquid cooling, Straznicky says. Single-phase liquid is the easiest to use. We need to get to two-phase with a sound approach, he adds.
Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace
Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.
